Here's another great close-up of Jabba. Notice the brown spot on his throat. This is where he had a tick removed. Luckily, my better half has experience with such things as he used to raise Burmese Pythons and they'd occasionally get ticks (and I give him lots of credit because this tick looked almost like any other bump and lump you'd find on a typical bufo's skin; talk about camaphlauge). Jabba didn't flinch during the removal and seemed visibly releived afterwards. Luckily, they've not returned and our female arrived tick free. The tick had not been found by the pet shop (who are usually very good with such things), because they called us as soon as he arrived that day and being dehydrated, Jabba had gone straight into water and didn't come out. We arrived shortly after the call that he'd come in.

NOTE: Should you ever aquire an animal with a tick lodged in it, you should not attampt to remove it yourself unless you know how. Its a tricky process and not all animals will let you do it so easily. Jabba was much more lax about the whole thing than most pythons would be, but its still a delicate matter. Find someone who knows what they're doing. If you have a vet, ask him. If not, try either a reputable pet shop, a local zoo or post something online and find a herpatologist or very experienced hobbyist near you. Who knows, maybe even a people doctor or a nurse might be willing to help you if you know one. If you find a tick, try to have it removed ASAP, so don't delay in finding help.